After a rotated Leinster team made short work of Glasgow in the PRO 14 this weekend, Alan Quinlan considered how the Irish province could possibly keep their abundance of young promising players happy on Monday's OTB AM.
Not too much time had passed since Alan Quinlan discussed the promise of Ryan Baird on Monday's OTB AM when the young Leinster player received a call-up to Andy Farrell's Ireland squad for the upcoming Six Nations game against France.
A 20-year-old Lock that has come through the province's academy, he managed to score a hat-trick of tries during Friday's 55-19 win.
"Yes, I think so," responded Quinlan to the suggestion that Baird could be the ideal partner for James Ryan in the Ireland team. "Ryan Baird was fantastic the other night.
"When you score a try as he did at the end where he takes off and shows incredible acceleration, he's obviously going to attract massive attention."
Errrrrrrrrm what???? 🤯
Last time you saw a lock do this???
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#GuinnessPRO14 #LEIvGLA pic.twitter.com/Kjx7J2g3Bf— United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) February 28, 2020
What of those promising young Leinster players just below the level of the likes of Baird, however?
"The issue that they will continue to have is trying to accommodate everyone," reasoned Quinlan. "Some of those players who played on Friday night will attract interest from lots of different teams in the UK and France, so that's always going to be a challenge for Leinster.
"That conveyor-belt just keeps producing players.
Quick to praise head coach Leo Cullen for cultivating a system whereby even without their international stars Leinster can dominate, the issue will continue to present itself, nevertheless.
"How do you keep them all happy," asked the former Munster man, "that is something Leo Cullen will have to deal with.
"Sometimes you will end up making decisions over 50/50 guys and whether they stay or go, and with these younger players coming through, when they play a few games and whether they have agents maybe, they'll want full-time contracts.
"It's a brilliant position to be in. This is their second-string team like and it is frightening."
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